Another risk for veterans

6:20 PM,
Nov. 8, 2012

Written by

LEO WILLIAMS
Guest Essayist

A few weeks ago, studies found that NFL players are at greater risk of ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). Papers like this one ran stories about the news and rightfully so. But with Veterans Day approaching on Sunday, Nov. 11, how many of us know that a much, much larger segment of our population -- military veterans -- also is at greater risk of Lou Gehrig's Disease?

Studies have shown that military veterans are about twice as likely to die from ALS as the general public. It does not matter when or where they served in the military -- home or abroad, during a time of peace or war, from World War I to ...